Unidentified stowaway found alive in plane's landing gear compartment at Paris Airport

French authorities revealed the discovery of a man, believed to be in his 20s, concealed in the landing gear compartment of an Air Algerie flight from Oran, Algeria, to Paris’s Orly airport. The shocking find occurred during routine technical checks, raising concerns about the man’s severe hypothermia, though he miraculously remained alive. Lacking any form of identification, the individual was swiftly transported to a hospital in serious condition. Sources at the airport emphasized the critical nature of his condition, attributing it to the extreme cold experienced at the cruising altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. Surviving temperatures as low as -50 degrees Celsius (-58F) and the oxygen-deprived conditions within an unheated, unpressurized landing gear compartment is an extraordinary feat. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has documented 132 instances of individuals attempting such perilous journeys between 1947 and 2021. This incident follows a series of similar occurrences, including a recent discovery of a deceased man in the landing gear of an aircraft at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. The FAA data underscores the grim reality of this method of travel, with a staggering 77% mortality rate for those attempting such journeys. The alarming trend of stowaways risking their lives in landing gear compartments continues to pose a significant challenge for aviation security. Authorities emphasize the need for heightened vigilance to prevent such life-threatening incidents in the future.